When the five Central Asian republics gained independence from the Soviet Union, expectations of conflict were widespread: indeed, Tajikistan suffered a civil war from 1992 to 1997. The factors that the literature on civil wars in general and on the Tajikistan civil war in particular cites as the causes of war were also present in Uzbekistan, but this country had a peaceful transition. Examining this empirical puzzle by isolating the factors that caused war in Tajikistan but not Uzbekistan, this book applies a powerful comparative approach to the broader question of why civil wars occur.
When the five Central Asian republics gained independence from the Soviet Union, expectations of conflict were widespread: indeed, Tajikistan suffered...
